NORTHWEST REGIONAL (CLASS 4A BOYS): Good Hope suffers season-ending loss, 81-71, to Deshler
Feb. 19—Good Hope's varsity boys delivered an efficient offensive performance against Deshler.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, however, the Tigers were just a little better inside Tom Drake Coliseum.
Deshler shot 60 percent from the field (32 for 53) in Monday's Northwest Regional Tournament — besting Good Hope's mark of 54 percent (28 for 52) — and answered each and every run put together by the Red and White en route to an 81-71 victory in the Class 4A semifinal.
Khalil Bland led a quartet of double-digit scorers for the Tigers (22-11) with a game-high 24 points.
"We knew going in that he (Bland) was the key," Good Hope coach Drew Adams said. "Our goal was to no-help (No.) 1 (Garrett Reid) and (No.) 11 (Aiden Woody) — we knew they could shoot it — and try to make No. 4 (Bland) shoot tough 2's. As the game progressed, not only did he hit tough 2's, but we knew we had to help off him. And as soon as you helped off, he found open guys. He did what an elite point guard is supposed to do. It's crazy to say we did what we wanted to do (defensively), but we just couldn't stop them."
The Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 advantage and took a 40-32 lead into halftime.
Adams' squad, though, came out swinging in the third quarter, using an 11-2 run — capped by a Tyler Cone 3-pointer — to surge ahead by a point at the 5:55 mark. But a quick 8-0 answer by Deshler pushed the lead back out seven and the Tigers carried a 63-49 cushion into the final period.
And although Good Hope battled down the stretch — four times slicing its deficit to eight points and once to seven — Deshler responded with a bucket or a free throw shortly afterward to stem the tide.
Cone (19 points), Kmal Bell (18) and Tucker Malin (17) paced the Raiders offensively and combined to shoot 55 percent from beyond the arc (6 for 11) in the contest. Jacob Haynes (eight), Dakota Overton (seven) and Weston Hancock (two) rounded out the scoring. The team finished 9 for 18 from 3-point range.
With that, Deshler's Brian Pounders paid a compliment to Good Hope's offensive capabilities.
"In my 12 years (at Deshler), they're one of the best 3-point shooting teams I've seen," the coach said.
The Raiders (21-11) will lose three seniors in Bell, Hancock and Overton but return several standouts next season.
And with their recent run of success — six straight 20-or-more-win campaigns — it's certainly possible for the Red and White to return to Wallace State next February.
"These seniors have cemented their legacy," Adams said. "They'll be up there with the 2020 team and remembered for winning the county championship and getting to the Sweet 16. Our goal is to get past that, but at the 4A level, you've got to play really well and be really good to keep going. We were good enough to get there this year and we were. But these guys have been about the right things. I always trusted them. I could always depend on them. I knew what they were about. They know there's nothing to be ashamed about moving forward."
